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Exercise and Physical Activity Ideas

Topic Overview

Aerobic activity raises your heart rate and keeps it up for a while.
This increases the amount of oxygen delivered to your heart and muscles. Over time, this kind of activity benefits your heart, your muscles, your mood and self-esteem, and your amount of energy. It can lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, body fat, anxiety and depression, and fatigue.

Finding the right activity

Here are some ideas for both
types of activities. You can boost many of the moderate activities in the left
column to a vigorous level by doing them faster or harder.1

Moderate intensity

Vigorous intensity

General exercise:

Brisk walking

Light to moderate calisthenics (for example, home
exercises, back exercises, getting up and down from the
floor)

Low-impact aerobic
dancing

Jogging on a small trampoline

Weight lifting, body building, using a lot of effort

Light to moderate workouts on gym equipment like Nautilus or
Universal machines or a rowing machine

General exercise:

Walking
uphill, jogging or running

Heavy calisthenics (push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks,
etc.)

High impact aerobic dancing

Jumping rope

Using a stair-climber or skiing
machine

Stationary bicycling, with vigorous effort

Water exercises:

Treading water with moderate effort

Water
aerobics or water calisthenics

Kayaking, canoeing, white-water
rafting

Springboard or platform diving

Paddle
boating

Water exercises:

Swimming laps with fast, vigorous effort

Treading water with fast, vigorous effort

Water
jogging

Rowing a canoe in
competition

Skin diving and scuba
diving

Outdoor activities:

Fishing and hunting

Playing with a
Frisbee

Children's games, like hopscotch, 4-square, and dodge
ball

Playing on playground equipment

Downhill skiing

Shoveling snow

Outdoor activities:

Horseback riding—trotting or
galloping

Competitive sports like rugby, field hockey, and
soccer

Hiking
with a backpack

Mountain biking

Ice skating quickly (more than 9 mph)

Snowshoeing and
cross-country skiing

House and yard work:

Sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping
floors

Washing the car with vigorous effort

Sweeping
the garage, sidewalk, or patio

Washing the dog

Mowing
or raking the lawn

Digging in the garden

House and yard work:

Carrying groceries
upstairs

Carrying boxes or furniture

Baling hay or cleaning the barn with vigorous effort

Adding variety to a fitness program is a good way to keep
motivated.

Vary the activity. If you are
getting bored with walking, try swimming or an aerobics class.

Vary the place. Try a new route for walking or biking
or even a different room for your exercises or stretching. By having several
options, you can pick one that suits your mood or schedule.

Vary the time. Do your exercises at different times
and for different amounts of time. If you become bored with your noon walk, try
exercising in the early morning or after work or school. Instead of doing one
45-minute session, do three 15-minute sessions.

Activity at the office

If your job includes lots of sitting, try adding these short bursts of activity to your day:

Use your commute to do some extra walking. Park
several blocks away, or get off the bus a few stops early.

Use the
stairs instead of the elevator, at least for a few floors.

Suggest
holding meetings with colleagues during a walk inside or outside the building.

Go the extra distance when possible: Get your coffee on another
floor (use the stairs) or use the restroom that's the farthest from your
office.

If you need to speak to a coworker, walk to that person's
office or station rather than using e-mail or the phone.

Use your
morning and afternoon breaks to take quick 15-minute walks.

Coaching and teaching

If you are bored with a sport or activity that you once enjoyed,
coaching or giving instruction can renew your interest.

Youth leagues for organized sports are often
seeking good coaches.

Take classes to become a certified fitness leader.

If you cycle, offer to lead a group of schoolchildren on a
bike ride to teach bicycle safety.

Offer to lead a walking group.

Competition

Competition can be a good motivator because:

It gives you a specific and measurable goal to
work toward, such as walking or running a 5 km or 10 km race.

Learning the details of a new course or event and
then preparing for it can restore the excitement and challenge that's gone from
more familiar competitions.

Helping to plan or organize a competitive event instead of entering
it can provide friendship and fun with others interested in the same activity.

Cross-training

Cross-training is the combination of various activities to spread
the work among various muscle groups. Cross-training has some important
advantages:

It prevents boredom by providing variety. It
can help you break out of a slump.

It helps you maintain balance
among your various muscle groups. For instance, runners who have developed
powerful leg muscles might cross-train to strengthen the upper body, which does
not get a good workout from running.

It reduces the risk of
injuries because the same muscles are not being stressed in the same way during
every workout.

Some exercise machines, such as elliptical cross-trainers, can help
you cross-train. Or you can use exercise machines that give variety to your
program by working muscle groups that aren't heavily used in your primary
activity.

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